“Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.” -Psalms 28.2
The idea is continued from verse one. David is seeking the Lord’s ear to plead his case for mercy. In verse two, the tension builds with “I cry to you for help.” To cry is to be louder. It indicates a desperation deeper than that required of a plea. Finally, it concludes with “uplifted hands.”
Uplifted hands, in this case, are not necessarily expressive of those typically imagined in modern worship services. Those uplifted hands are expressive of praise and honor. Here, they seem to represent helplessness, as if he were “empty-handed.” David is acknowledging there is nothing in his own power that can accomplish his request. He must rely on God entirely for his help.
His reaching toward the Lord’s “most holy sanctuary” is expressive of his reaching, empty-handed, toward the Lord’s very presence, as he undoubtedly, has in view, the holy of holies in the tabernacle.